ARTICLES ABOUT POSTAL BY DATE - PAGE 4

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night prevents mail couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Saturdays might be tough, however. Facing a projected $238 billion loss over the next decade, due in part to the rise of the Internet, the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday proposed a 10-year plan to bring it into financial health, including putting an end to Saturday mail delivery. The Postal Service, which is regulated by Congress and the administration but operates without federal assistance, faces "a severe income gap that we absolutely have to close," said Postmaster General John Potter.

A Hellertown man stole a $950 postal check from the Hellertown Post Office, and a second borough man cashed the check, police said today. Richard A. Fluck, who is the son of borough Mayor Richard T. Fluck, and Bryan Flok were arrested Sunday after a Hellertown police investigation into the June 2009 theft. Fluck, 47, of 830 Detweiler Ave. took the check from the post office and Flok, 47, of 1052 Detweiler Ave. co-signed it and cashed it, police said. The post office reported the incident Aug. 24. Fluck and Flok were arraigned Sunday by District Judge Adrianne Masut of Wind Gap -- Fluck on charges of theft, forgery, tampering with records and identity theft, and Flok on charges of receiving stolen property, tampering with records and identity theft.

By Tracy Jordan and Pamela Lehman OF THE MORNING CALL | October 22, 2009

As the Bangor postmaster drove around checking collection boxes Tuesday afternoon, he was also looking for sex and propositioned two women and tried to lure three girls into his car, he allegedly told police. Gregory George Schlegel, 53, of 556 Roberts Road in Bushkill Township was charged Tuesday afternoon after the women and girls -- ages 12, 13, and 17 -- reported the incident. Police said Schlegel told them he spoke with women on the street and said "he was looking to have sex" as he checked mail collection boxes.

The scam : College students are the target of a new work-at-home scam, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. It's a job scam. "Mail assistants" who work at home are being solicited, the agency said. How it works: The service says "ABS Consulting" out of Luxembourg has posted ads on sites such as Craigslist, seeking workers for a "mail forwarding" service. Workers would receive mail, scan the front of each envelope, e-mail the scanned images and ship the mail biweekly. Workers are promised $800 after two weeks, plus a bonus.

Warren W. Breisch, 85, of Schnecksville, died on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 in his home. He was the husband of Arlene (Kunkle) Bowman Breisch. The couple would have celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary on January 13. Born in Allentown, he was the son of the late Charles and Lillian (Beach) Breisch. He was a graduate of Allentown High School, class of 1942 and received a Purple Heart Medal for his service in the Army during World War II. He was a member of Neffs Lutheran Church. He was employed by the United States Postal Service for 33 years in Allentown, having worked as a route carrier and in other areas of the postal service until his retirement in 1979.

When was the last time you wrote someone a letter and used a stamp to send it? Can't remember? Then you're partly to blame for a massive consolidation plan that has the U.S. Postal Service closing dozens of processing centers to cut costs. Part of that nationwide plan closes the Wilkes-Barre mail center and funnels more than 50,000 pieces of mail a day into the underused Lehigh Valley Processing and Distribution Center in Hanover Township, Northampton County. That's bad news for the 200 people working in Wilkes-Barre, who soon may have to travel to Scranton, the Lehigh Valley or other operations farther away.

Again before Congress is a bill prohibiting the purchase of tobacco via telephone or Internet. If it should pass, then why not a bill prohibiting the payment of money owed companies via the same methods? These types of payments are having a significant, detrimental effect on the U.S. Postal Service, which will result eventually in not a small loss of employment. The purchase of tobacco in the aforementioned ways increases postal revenue. Tobacco never has been deemed a "controlled substance" and, in fact, is wholly legal and an integral factor in the development of that which is America.

The Portland post office, the prize of a small borough that prides itself on the pleasantries of small-town life, will remain open for at least the next five years, postal officials have confirmed. "We're safe," said Portland Mayor Kay Bucci. "We're so grateful for all of the help we got to make this happen. Losing our post office would have been traumatic for this town." Despite facing a more than $1.5 billion cash shortfall by the end of the fiscal year, the U.S. Postal Service has an understanding to continue to lease the post office space on Route 611 from PNC Bank, which owns the building, said Postal Service spokesman Ray Daiutolo.

The ever-present big blue mailbox is going the way of the pay phone, rabbit ears and the typewriter. Why? It's just not needed anymore. More than 188,000 boxes nationwide have been removed this decade as e-mail, online bill-paying and Internet catalogs help cause the volume of mail handled by the Postal Service to plummet. Few places have taken a bigger hit than the Allentown area, where the 300 mailboxes that once dotted the landscape are now down to just 63. Roughly 240 have been eliminated from street corners since 2004.

On May 9 local members of the National Association of Letter Carriers collected more than 155,000 pounds of food and grocery products from postal customers throughout the Lehigh Valley to benefit families in need in our community. This was the 16th year letter carriers collected donations for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley and Northeast PA. The drive involved the efforts of city and rural letter carriers, Teamsters Local 773, and volunteers. The donations collected translates into thousands of meals for the people served by Second Harvest Food Bank and its nearly 200 member agencies, people who may otherwise be unable afford groceries.